1.1 Technical Field
This invention pertains to a method and apparatus for neatly retaining cords, such as electrical cords, within a box, such as a surge protector. One or more cord retainers can be mounted in a box, so that individual cords can be wound around a cord retainer to organize those cords in an orderly manner.
1.2 Background Art
In many homes and offices, spider-web-like mazes of electrical and telephone cords create unsightly messes. These cords frequently accompany computer equipment, such as a common office desk arrangement including a CPU, monitor, modem, printer, and other peripherals. Similarly, many homes have an entertainment center including a television, stereo, compact disc player, speakers, and other sound equipment, all of which have various cords which seem to be predisposed to tangling. When it is necessary to service or replace one of these related devices, interweaving of the cords may make it difficult to disconnect and remove the desired device. A number of different types of cords may be involved, including power cords from each electrical device, speaker wires, or other line cords such as cords running from a modem or telephone to a wall jack, all of which will generally be referred to in this Specification as "cords".
A number of devices are known in the prior art which are suitable for retaining cords to eliminate tangled exposed cords. For example, United States Design Pat. Nos. 336,421 to Grubicy et al. and 374,815 to Snow describe hand held cord retainers around which cords can be wrapped. Although Grubicy appears to have a mechanism for accommodating various lengths of cord, the mechanism consists of multiple hooks permanently arranged in a row, where adjacent hooks would hinder wrapping a cord on a chosen hook. Snow does not seem to have an adjustment mechanism for accommodating differing lengths of cord.
Other cord retaining devices known in the prior art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,628,646 to Voss, 5,471,713 to Alter et al., 5,048,158 to Koerner, Design 275,175 to Rolli, Jr., Des. 380,585 to Olson, Des. No. 340,695 to Merriman et al, Des. 353,990 to Alfreds, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,910,835 to Carpenter, 4,768,974 to Cowan et al., 4,665,590 to Udelhofen et al., 5,224,245 to Matoba, 5,328,384 to Magnuson, 4,940,859 to Peterson, and 5,629,826 to Roca et al. While these patents represent devices which are useful for their intended purpose, none adequately permits different lengths of cord to be easily retained and easily released.
It is common to connect cords from various related electrical appliances to a surge protector, which protects the appliances from damage due to surges of current or voltage from the power source. An example of such a surge protector is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,600 to Campbell, et al. The Campbell surge protector box includes bays within the box suitable for holding excess cords, once the plug of each cord is plugged into a surge protection circuit at the front of the box. However, these multiple cords may easily uncoil or become intertwined within the box. An electric cord take-up device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,694 to Dorn does provide pegs within a box for holding wrapped cord, but the cord can easily unwrap, particularly when the box is opened.
Boxes suitable for holding multiple cords, such as surge protectors and extension cords with a bay to contain various lengths of excess cord, are a significant improvement over open faced surge protectors, which can leave various lengths of cords tangled in a spider-web-like maze on the floor. But although such boxes are capable of removing from sight the tangled cords, these boxes can be made significantly neater, resulting in each cord being easier to access, by the use of a cord retaining method described in this Specification.